News Briefs

CIT Presents Staff Awards

The College of Engineering presented its Staff Awards on Jan. 8. Ann Lyon Ritchie of the Information Networking Institute (INI) received the Staff Recognition Award. The Burritt Education Award went to Lori Dawn Spears of the Information Communication Technology Institute. Keri L. Baker of the Biomedical Engineering Department received the Rookie Award.

Carnegie Mellon Today Earns Top Honors

Carnegie Mellon Today magazine took top honors in two categories at the Public Relations Society of America’s 2013 Renaissance Awards Dinner Jan. 24 at the Consol Energy Center’s Lexus Club. The magazine won a Renaissance Award in the External Publications category and a Renaissance Award in the Opinion/Editorial category for its “First Word” column by Executive Editor Robert Mendelson. The awards honor the region’s best public relations campaigns and tactics. The Carnegie Mellon Today team has won 80 awards since 2007.

PSC Symposium Launches New Supercomputer, “Sherlock”

On Friday, Feb. 1, the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) will host an event and symposium to launch its newest supercomputer, Sherlock, which is designed to discover unknown relationships or patterns hidden in extremely large and complex bodies of information. Nick Nystrom, director of Strategic Applications for the PSC, said Sherlock gives the PSC the first system available to researchers that is optimized for a particularly difficult family of questions regarding security, medicine, public health and social dynamics. He said Sherlock keep Pittsburgh at the forefront of high performance computing.

The 11 a.m. launch event will feature remarks by PSC directors Ralph Roskies and Mike Levine, Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and Barry Schneider, program director for the National Science Foundation’s Office of Cyberinfrastructure.

CMWA To Host Mardi Gras Lunch Feb. 12

Join the Carnegie Mellon Women's Association at noon on Tuesday, Feb. 12, in the Connan Room, University Center, for a Mardi Gras Lunch fundraiser. Members and non-members are welcome. The lunch costs $10 and includes lunch, dessert and beverage. All funds go directly to the CMWA scholarship fund. RSVP to Alexa Hansenachansen@cmu.edu by Friday, Feb. 8.

2011-2012 Carnegie Mellon Factbook Now Online

The 2011-2012 Carnegie Mellon University Factbook is now online at http://www.cmu.edu/ira/factbook/facts2013.html. Each section is provided in a separate PDF, which is led by a linked Table of Contents and an introduction. The introductions to each section include definitions necessary for accurate interpretation of the information. Questions? Contact jsutkus@cmu.edu.

The Office of the Dean of Student Affairs is coordinating a book drive through the We Can Read project in memory of the students and faculty who died in the December shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Donations from CMU will benefit the library at Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Arsenal PreK-5 in Lawrenceville. The school’s librarian has created an Amazon Wish List of more than 300 books, and the drive will run until all of the books are purchased. Books purchased through the Wish List will be directly shipped to the school. Those interested in purchasing books from the Wish List at a different retailer are asked to click “Buying this gift elsewhere?” to mark the book(s) as purchased and drop them off at 301 Warner Hall. For more information, contact Joanna Dickert at joannad@andrew.cmu.edu or 412-268-2075.

Graduate Student Service and Teaching Award Nominations Due Feb. 8

The Graduate Student Service and Teaching Award nominations are due on Friday, Feb. 8. The committees would greatly appreciate your support in soliciting and submitting nominations of graduate students who have excelled in teaching or service so that their efforts can be recognized by the university community. Nomination information can be found at http://www.cmu.edu/celebration-of-education/graduate-student/index.html. The Awards will be presented on Thursday, April 4, at the Innovation with Impact: Graduate Student Celebration of Research, Teaching and Service during Graduate Student Appreciation Week. Recipients also will be recognized at the Celebration of Education on Tuesday, April 30.

Student Employee of the Year Nominations Due Feb. 20

Nominations are now being accepted for the Student Employee of the Year Award sponsored by the Northeast Association of Student Employment Administrators and the National Student Employment Association. This award program recognizes the outstanding contributions of college students who work while attending college. All student employees, undergraduate and graduate, are eligible for nomination. Application deadline is Feb. 20. The nomination process and nomination form are available online at: www.cmu.edu/career/student-employment-experiential/index.html. For questions, contact Pati Kravetz at pk13@andrew.cmu.edu.